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House Rules and other Notes
House Rules: 'Dice Rolls:' Dramatic Failure: No successes and more than 50% of your dice pool are “1's” (or roll “1” on a chance dice) Failure: No successes (No dice that roll an 8,9 or 0) Success: One of more successes (Dice rolls of 8,9 or 10) Exceptional Success: You gain more successes than your dice pool (due to exploding 10's) or 5 successes. 'Lethal Weapons:' Weapons do not add their dice bonus to hit, instead they cause automatic levels of damage instead. 'Auto-Fire: ' SMGs, Assault Rifles and some other guns can fire on automatic with the modifiers described below: Short Burst (uses 3 bullets) +1 damage, -1 to weapon accuracy Long Burst (uses 10+ bullets) +3 damage, -3 to weapon accuracy Suppression/Wide Spray (uses 10+ bullets) +3 dice to hit (You can use this action in an area and you can shoot anybody who emerges before the start of your next turn) 'Converting Armour:' Armour does not make the force of a bullet magically disappear. Instead it spreads out the damage across a large area, turning lethal injuries from Swords and Bullets into survivable concussive damage. Modern Ballistic armour only converts ballistic Lethal damage to bashing, archaic metal armour only converts bladed Lethal weapon damage to bashing, although the soak of both still applies. So Kevlar offers only mild protection against blades and bullets tear through metal armour with ease. New and Expanded Merits 'New Merit - Networking' (replaces Allies and Contacts related to police work) Networking focuses: *Local businesses *Drug culture (* A drug user/ Narcotics officer, *** A drug dealer) *Smugglers/Fences *White-collar criminals (such as con artists and fraudsters) *Organised Crime (* A cop working in Organised Crime, ** Married into the Family *** A blood member of a *Mafia Family) *Gangs (*A cop working the Streets in a ghetto, *** Former gang member) *Prostitutes (* Vice Detective, *** Undercover Vice detective) *Neighbourhood organisations (* Neighborhood watch member, *** Head of the Vidgilance in communities program) *Small racial community (Native Americans, Jewish, blacks, Chinese et al.) *Local Government (*Somebody with a bright future in politics, ** A Political activist *** Former cop working in politics) *Local Media (* Minor Celebrity, ** Press officer, *** Embedded Journalist) Effect: In their line of work, police officers interact with a much wider variety of people than most civilians. As such they can gain reputations among certain areas of the community and with certain types of criminals. You also gain a rough idea of how the subculture works. Note however, this merit only applies to groups that a cop will meet in the course of their work. Contacts within Universities or military allies fall under those merits respectively. Mentors are completely separate from this. 'Levels of Networking:' *Rank 1 - “What is in it for me?“ You are somebody who is involved in the subculture occasionally but you are not trusted, like a vice detective people may be willing to talk or provide services but only if they can do so without causing trouble and if you pay something for it (money, perks, offers to keep people off their back etc…). (+1 to all social rolls with that group and you know about the “public faces” of the subculture) *Rank 2 - ”Well, I guess I can tell you, just don’t say where you got this” Over time you have earned trust from the subculture, they may give out information just for the asking, discounts with services and will be relatively straight with you as long as you don’t threaten them or bring too much heat into the area. (+2 to all social rolls in the area and you know most of the movers and shakers as well as about connected groups such as suppliers) *Rank 3 “Of course, anything for my good pal” People will occasionally surface with information or services without you even needing to ask. Of course this goes both ways, if you don’t warn them before a raid or help out their friends they may ask why you deserve such trust. Typical of somebody who is actually a member of the subculture. (+3 to all social rolls in the area and you know most of the people in the group/area/organisation by name or face alone.) 'Merit explanation: Sworn Officer:' *Rank 0: Probationary officer or civilian, does not have the right to make arrests. *Rank 1 - Beat officer, have all the basic rights and duties to arrest and detain but they must what you are told and do work that senior officers give them, no independent stuff. *Rank 2 - Senior Police officer or Detective, may perform full investigations under (the sometimes lax) supervision of a sergeant. *Rank 3 - Police Sergeant or Detective Sergeant, most senior street officer, offered a great deal of freedom to investigate crimes, command others and request resources. Sometimes plainclothes they oversee the investigations of SPOs and detectives. *Rank 4 - Lieutenant or Detective Lieutenant, lots of power but do little police work, lots of paperwork, often organising a major department or a full shift. *Rak 5 - Captain, very rarely appointed and even less wanted, almost entirely bureaucracy. 'Merit Explanation: Resources' *Rank 0: Unemployed - not appropriate for a cop *Rank 1 Entry level Patrol officer (Status: Police * to **) *Rank 2 Sergeants and Lieutenants (Status: Police ** to ****) *Rank 3 Captains and higher (Status: Police **** to *****) If you want to justify more resources than your basic pay then you can do one of the following for a maximum of a +1 resource greater than rank: *Lots of overtime (Giving you very little "down-time") *Having a working spouse (Who could be a source of plot) *Taking Bribes (Care needs to be taken or face corruption charges) *Living very frugally (You will have ready cash, but your home will be a dive and you might not own a car and your uniform might be a bit threadbare) It is also possible to have an independent income (Trust fund, Investments, a family inheritance etc... however this is rare and should give me cool plot hooks) to justify much higher resources. Character Generation advice/suggestions: 'Hooks for cop concepts: (With examples in brackets)' *Family guy (relative in an interesting line of work? Political or Cop family?) *Hobby enthusiast (Rock-climber, martial arts student or amateur pilot) *Demoted from elsewhere (Washed out ERU or former promising detective) *Interesting former Career (Lawyer, former pro-athlete, fire-fighter or ex-military) *Links to criminal activity (In the pocket of the Mafia, former petty crook) *You have “a problem” (Drink, drugs, women, men, gambling or something else?) *Obsession (UFO nut or Evangelist) *Minority group (a face for your group or somebody sick of PCness) *Medical problem? (Diabetes, Dyslexia or Asthmatic) *Part of a subculture (Hacker, Fetishist, Hells Angel or Rotary club?) *Previous education or skills: Bare minimum (High school) doctorate or professional? *Rank (Are you being held back as a Basic Officer or are you in charge already?) *Special training options: (Hostage negotiator or Defensive driving tactics, why?) *Bad reputation: (Kicked out of last precinct or given disciplinary action) *Where are you from originally? (Local boy, Foreigner on exchange or Texan?) *Bad cop: (Bribery? Racist? “He fell down some stairs”? Violent temper?) *Wealth: normal cop salaries are shit. Do you make more? How? Extra job? Spouse? *Physical flaws: Poor vision, scars and old wounds, shaky hands and minor deformities. *Age: Young rookie or aged veteran? *Mental problems: Police officers are screened for potentially serious mental disorders, but there are always some who come through with minor symptoms. OCD, depression, paranoia are not unknown in their milder forms. 'Pre-gen concepts:' *Former House-breaker (Never caught, finally went straight after a theft turned fatal, scaring him off that line of work and they joined the police instead) *Mafiosi (A straight member of the local family put into the police to “help”) *Family man (Wife and three kids, but he enjoys a bit on the side with a local call girl) *The token Ethnic minority who hates political correctness, who majored in computer sciences before joining the force. *Detective “transferred sideways” because of discrimination, also a zealous (Shamanist/Scientologist/Jehovah's Witness etc...) *Political Star: Somebody who intends to make their name in politics and is using the Police force as a good entry level. Maybe the stress gets to him sometimes and he crawls into a bottle. *Former Military: A former soldier in Iraq, who has returned home to settle into a good job. However PTSD can cause him a violent temper especially towards overt Muslims. 'Supernatural encounters:' The PCs do not "know" about the supernatural, but they may have seen some "weird shit" either as an officer or before they joined. Things like: *A girl flagged you down on the highway looking for help. She said her car had broken down and led you off the road. You found her car had been smashed to pieces in a collision and you lost the girl in the dark. The girl who flagged you down was dead with her skull crushed in the front seat. *You gambled on holiday in Vegas a few years back, this one guy you played won, too much to be luck or skill. The casino staff came down and arrested you instead. The video footage showed that you were the one with the improbable winning streak alone. There was no sign of the lucky gambler or his winnings and the casino let you off with a warning not to come back. *A UFO abducted you when you were fresh out of school. It came down, the engine stopped and there were bright lights everywhere. Then these insect-like creatures took you away into a metal room, strapped you to a table. You couldn't feel anything but you could see them using bladed tools on you and implant something into your neck. When you woke up you were in your car without a mark on your body. *When you were young, there was a tiny door in your room, you crawled into it and when you came out of the other side you were in more or less the same bedroom as before, but this room was in a different state and your little sister was missing. Nobody else remembered your sister, there were no records and you never found the door or your sister again. *One day when out exploring you found a tunnel out in the woods, you went inside and there was a huge abstract crystal-like sculpture that was painful to look at. Your nose started bleeding and you marked the place and fled. When you returned the next day there was a car-park there. There had been a car-park there for the last 20 years according to the records and there was no sign of the tunnel. However you checked and the construction was brand new, when you tried to take it further the local sheriff came to your house with a man in a black suit and politely but firmly told you to stop wasting police time and warned you that you would be arrested if you returned to the car-park. *Back in school you went missing for 2 weeks, the last thing you remember was sitting down at the school computer terminal. A few minutes later the janitor came in and called the police to call off the search that had been going on in your absence. It was claimed that you had run away from home and came back when you ran out of supplies, but you know that was not what happened. *You went camping for 4 days alone in a local wood and took your camera for an art project featuring nature shots. You snapped nearly 120 photographs, however when you checked through them you found 4 photographs of yourself asleep, one each night of your trip. *You once found a quarter with the face of a woman in the place of the president and the year "2023" stamped on the back. *You once found a stash of old pornography magazines in your youth. They are from 1942 to 2001 and seem to be in good condition. However each one has a page marked. In each magazine is a beautiful woman posing for erotic photographs. The description always gives a different name and says that she is 18 and wishes to train to be a vet in each case. At the back of the stash are several photocopies of poor quality which seem to be from art books. They each feature nude portraits of a woman who looks similar to the one featured in the magazines done by artists from the 17-19th centuries. However the poor quality replication makes it hard to be certain that it is the same woman. *You once came across an old abandoned factory, you sneaked in and you found a room where broken bottles, fallen twigs and newspapers hung unsuspected in mid-air. You tested it for several hours, eventually walking in yourself and floating as if in free-fall for a while, then all of a sudden the effect ended and you fell to the ground receiving some nasty bruises. A few months afterwards the whole place was turned into a housing estate and you've not been back since. *In your old job you were called to a foster home, where a woman cared for over a dozen young children. When you arrived the children were alive and healthy however the woman was not. She had been shot 2 dozen times by bullets from two different revolvers, several of which were in her head. Two male bodies were also recovered (later identified as wanted felons with a history of violent crime), with their heads caved in by the woman's frying pan. *A man handed himself in once, in floods of tears he confessed to 12 separate robberies. until the 13th victim did something to him. He said that he tried to mug this homeless guy who just sighed and handed over what was in his pockets. When you booked the items into evidence you found a handful of photographs of the robber, his family and children. A copy of the robbers front door key, a list of the details of every crime the man had committed and 3 more entries. The final entry details the mans demise as he attempted to steal from a female off-duty marine and was accidentally killed in the process. He wouldn't go into detail about what the homeless man told him, but he confessed to everything and even argued in court that he should get a heavier sentence. Character Questions What is your characters name? How would you sum them up in a single phrase? (e.g. “demoted detective” or former all-star athlete”) How old are you? What do you look like? What family do you have? Who and where are they? What do they do? Who are your friends outside of work? Who are they? How many do you have? Are they close? What's the best thing about your character as a person? (Are they perhaps generous? Principled? Loyal?) What's the worst thing about your character as a person? (Are they selfish? Jealous? Bitter? Hateful?) What is their greatest asset? (e.g. Logical thinker, tough as nails, highly educated, empathic or well-connected?) What is your greatest weakness? (e.g. Old war wound, unattractive, absent-minded, stutters, cowardly, physically unimpossing? What do you fear? (Simple things like snakes, spiders, darkness, enclosed spaces or other things) What terrifies you? (Complex “rational” fears like being betrayed by a loved one, being forgotten when you get old, being stuck in a dead-end job for the rest of your life or having somebody you love hurt?) If a genie appeared and gave you your hearts desire, what would that be? Do you seek fame, wealth, power, respect, influence, physical strength, luck or beauty? What about your darkest desires? Would you want revenge on anybody? The ability to hurt others from a distance? Eternal youth? Would you like to force somebody to love you or would you want to change who you are? Have you had any “unusual” experiences? Maybe you saw a UFO or a ghost once? Maybe you came across a crime that didn't make sense or a mystery you couldn't explain. Maybe it's even something personal like a relative who disappeared and nobody but you can remember them and all the photographs have been changed or Do you have any secrets? Maybe you did something but never got caught? Or turned a blind eye? It might just even be an inappropriate thought or a moment you were tempted to cheat on somebody or some ideal. Is there anything else relevant about your character? Race, gender, sexuality, political views, hobbies, membership to any clubs or groups. Character Generation Rules 'All Cop Characters' (and Federal Agents) Begin with: *Attributes: **2 in every attribute **3 points to spend in any attribute (Maximum of 4 at starting) *Abiliies: **Mental skills: Academics 1, Investigation 2, Medicine 1, Politics 1 **Physical Skills: Athletics 1, Brawl 1, Drive 1, Firearms 1 and Weaponry 1 **Social Skills: Empathy 1, Intimidation 1, Persuasion 1, Subterfuge 1 **3 Specialities in any of your skills. **Plus 11 points of Abilities to spend (Starting Maximum 3) *Merits: **Resources 1 (Basic cop wage) **Sworn Officer 1 (A Patrol Officer, able to make arrests) **Then 10 points of merits to spend 'Non-Cop Characters' These characters instead get the more normal character generation rules. *Attributes: 5/4/3 *Abilities: 13/9/5 *Specialities: 3 *Merits:12 (Specialists may purchase some exotic merits that would not normally be allowed) 'Both Character types:' *Both get Experience. **You can spend up to 15 experience points (or 75 if you are a new character in Season 2), any excess experience that you do not spend here is "banked" and can be used later. *Morality begins at 7 *Size is 5 (Unless Dwarf or Giant) *Calculate Initiative, Willpower, Health and other attributes as normal.